Meatless Monday: Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with Spicy Lemon Aioli

My mom’s cousin, Dana (we call her “Aunt Dana”), lives out in the middle of nowhere Missouri. She lives on a lot of land…with a lot of animals. As of last night, she has 5 dogs, 3 cats, and 2 horses. She loves animals and in the country, there never seems to be a shortage of animals in need of a loving home. And so, her “kid” count often grows.

I spent many childhood 4th of July holidays at Aunt Dana’s house, spoiling her dogs — learning who preferred tummy rubs over ear massages and vice versa. We’re suckers for animals and so she thoroughly enjoys and understands my all-too-regular Facebook updates with Lily’s most recent shenanigans or cute pose.

Anyways, Aunt Dana called last night to let me know she thought we should submit a video to America’s Funniest Home Videos for the $100,000 grand prize. She went on to describe a video where a sleeping bulldog was tempted with a french fry right under its nose and she thought Lily would play the role perfectly, as well.

I can totally picture this. Bulldogs are notorious for sleeping (and snoring) and judging by the looks of them, they’d eat just about anything.

But, not my bulldog.

Lily will always graciously accept meat and cheese…fish, too. Consistently, will eat breads and pasta. Not-so-consistently, she will eat fruit and hardly ever will she eat a vegetable (though I do think she’d wolf down a french fry!). Just this week, she turned down blueberries, strawberries, a tortilla chip, peas, and a piece of celery. The girl is one picky eater. While not quite as extreme, Mr. Prevention has his moments, too.

Not-so-consistently will he eat quinoa for me. It’s not that he doesn’t like quinoa, but I think it just sounds too healthy. Or something. I’m not really sure. The night I whipped up these Cheesy Quinoa Cakes with Spicy Lemon Aioli, he opted for a frozen pizza.

Place quinoa, cheese, flour, onions, egg, pepper, salt, and 1 tablespoon oil into a mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.

Pour remaining 2 tablespoons oil into a large sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat heat. Form ¼ cup patties with the quinoa mixture and place in the heated sauté pan. Note: the cakes may be crumbly, but as they brown on one side, they will hold together. Cook quinoa cakes for about 5 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining patties until all of the cakes have been cooked.

Meanwhile, mix together the aioli ingredients in a small bowl. Serve alongside the warm quinoa cakes.

Result: Simple to make and a perfect recipe to use up leftover quinoa. I wasn’t sure these were going to hold together while making them, but as soon as one side browned, they held together just fine. The aioli really makes these…don’t forget it 😉

Comments

These sound awesome. They remind me of a quinoa cake I had to make for work one time. They look better on your blog though 🙂
Nick is the same way about quinoa, by the way. I think his thought is that it sounds way too healthy, but he WILL eat it…although he complains each time.

Damn. I thought you were going to say Mr. Prevention loved these. I have a boy that I keep trying to feed quinoa to but he insists he doesn’t like it. I insist that he’s wrong. I will try and get him with these anyhow, and if he won’t eat them, more for me. 🙂

1) I generally delete pointless, negative comments but since you’re off base…2) the most of fat in this recipe is from olive oil and less than 1/2 ounce of cheese per serving, 3) most adults need ~60 grams of fat per day (60 divided by 3…) and lastly, 4) most Americans don’t consume an excess of fat, but simply the wrong TYPES of fat.

i made these quinoa patties with the sauce and! ……….. Wow they are soooo good! The only problem is that it says 5 serving……but my husband and I ate the entire thing for supper. I served it with a shredded carrot salad. Yummy! Thank you for the recipe.

[…] I have made the mixture in the afternoon, and then just fry them up when I’m ready. It makes for a quick dinner. This time I used fresh tzatziki I bought at the Famers Market, but I have seen so many variations. Don’t be afraid to be creative. Nicole, of Prevention RD uses a delicious Lemon Aioli. […]